Keep your finger on the pulse of the issues affecting the planet we call home. Hosted by Steve Curwood, Living on Earth examines all sides of today's most important environmental concerns. Environmental experts and leading environmental journalists join the discussion each week with compelling features and commentary on how culture, economics, and technology shape the world around us. As the population and consumption continue to rise, Living on Earth continues to deliver the award-winning news on the subjects that affect the earth's inhabitants. Produced by World Media Foundation Inc.

Water supply in the west isn't only about rain, or the lack thereof. A good deal of water scarcity issues have to do with decades-old policy and entrenched infrastructure. It’s a convoluted situation, and a team of reporters are working to make sense and put broader perspective on the western water crisis and the central role of the Colorado River.

In the US, momentum seemed to be building to take more aggressive steps to address climate change. Then the Supreme Court stepped in. Now — at least as regards limiting toxic mercury levels — it’s back to the drawing board for the EPA.

Five years ago, the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster caused billions of dollars in economic and environmental damages to the Gulf region. Civil and criminal lawsuits have kept BP in court for years. Now an agreement might bring relief for those government agencies seeking fines and compensation. But is it enough?

Twelve years ago, marine biologist Nancy Caruso and a group of students and volunteer divers began restoring the kelp forests off the coast of Orange County, California. In August 2014, when huge mounds of the giant seaweed started piling up on Laguna Beach — to the consternation of tourists and beach-goers — Caruso knew the project had succeeded.

The state of Louisiana is disappearing at an incredible rate, and its sinking deltas threaten some of the nation's crucial oil, gas and fisheries industries. But Louisiana has a “Hail Mary” plan to save it. Industry and government have created an unprecedented plan to save and rebuild these wetlands over the next 50 years — and say failure is not an option.

Glaciers are key contributors to drinking water supplies, hydropower generation and salmon survival in the Pacific Northwest. Scientists aren’t sure exactly when the glaciers will disappear. It could be within a few decades. It has been 4,000 years since the glaciers have receded this much.

Though the pesticide DDT was banned in the US in 1972, its effects in the human body may live on. New research has found the strongest link yet between exposure to DDT in the womb and the likelihood of breast cancer later in life.

The saola, nicknamed the Asian unicorn, has been known to Western science for only about 20 years. Its habits and way of life are still mysteries. But one thing about it is clear: It’s living on the verge of extinction.

Steve Curwood created the first pilot of "Living on Earth" in the spring of 1990, and the show has run continuously since April 1991. His relationship with public radio goes back to 1979 when he began as a reporter and host of NPR's "Weekend All Things Considered." He has been a journalist for more than 30 years with experience at CBS News, the "Boston Globe," NPR, WBUR-FM/Boston and WGBH-TV/Boston. He shared the 1975 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service as part of the "Boston Globe's" education team. Read full bio.